Riding
the waves of their most successful release to date, 110,000+
selling Alien Youth, Skillet teams up with producer
Paul Ebersold (Spacehog, 3 Doors Down, Sister Hazel) to
offer yet another stylistic direction on their newest
release, Collide.
Departing
from keyboard driven sounds and delving into grittier guitar
sounds, front man John Cooper lets his inventive juices go
with reckless abandon and muscle bound authority. Superior
songwriting dominates once again, this time propelled by
thunderous instrumental clashes and deep-throated vocals.
Discover Skillet’s ability to reveal passion and hope
through their latest musically intense, yet lyrically
beautiful, work on Collide.
~ independentbands.com
Never
ones to sauté the same sounds perpetually on each release,
or to revisit lightening that's already struck, the members
of Skillet are in the constant pursuit of variety, as their
name so appropriately implies: a sensory overloading hybrid
of diverse tastes, scents, and styles. Since 1996, the John
Cooper-led quartet has bounced between modern rock urgency
on its self-titled debut, to the electronic domination of
"Hey You I Love Your Soul," to the pulsating
techno explosions throughout "Invincible," to the
prayerful reverence on "Ardent Worship," to the
intense industrialization on "Alien Youth."
In
the process, Skillet has earned a vast army of "Panheads"
and a respectable amount of industry acclaim. With eight
number one radio singles under its belt, eleven Dove
nominations, and over 200 jam-packed concert dates a year,
the group is amongst Christian music's alternative elite
with a solid commitment to artistic excellence and
evangelistic relevance.
"I've
always made a conscious effort to write about what I felt
God was telling me on every project, and since we've
started, I think we've covered a lot of bases,"
reflects Cooper. "We've encouraged those within the
church and hopefully introduced people to Christ that hadn't
known him before. I think this current phase of Skillet will
take us further down those roads even more
effectively."
That
musing the band's prolific front man is referring to is the
latest in Skillet's run of top notch quality albums called "Collide",
a punch-packed collage of sounds marinating since we last
heard from the group two years ago (with the Alien Youth CD
and the subsequent concert/behind the scenes DVD The
Unplugged Invasion). The lengthy break has paid off for
Cooper and company, who not only had time to take and fine
comb all of the details on this career cornerstone release,
but welcome the Cooper's latest baby.
In
the end, ten soon-to-be Skillet classics made it onto Collide,
uniting around yet another stylistic direction for the band
-- one that sees its departure from keyboard driven sounds
and delving into a grittier, guitar dominated pedigree.
"It's definitely a lot louder than ever before without
any of the techno or industrial elements," Cooper
confirms. "In one sense it's stripped down from the
keyboard stuff, but it's definitely more loud and aggressive
than before."
